Monkeying around...

Camper Lessons

:: First and foremost...We (all 7 of us and our pets) really can live in a 32 foot castle on wheels and not kill each other! It has been a month and a half since moving in and we are still smiling most of the time.

:: I can, somehow prepare a meal for us all in a teensy weensy kitchen. Though our food choices are limited severely which is mostly due to our food storage capability. I have come to terms with the fact that it is necessary to shop every. other. day. for meals. Each day is faced with the same questions as well. "What's for breakfast (lunch and dinner)? Each day is approached by me thinking "What is for breakfast (lunch and dinner)? Along with "do we really "have" to eat?" Isn't it true that the body can go like a week or longer without food or something like that? Seriously though, I am very anxious to be able to eat healthier. I can't wait to do away with the convenience foods that have plagued our diets since we have been in here. Oi!

:: How could I forget the other frustration of meal time. We obviously do not have the best seating set up so three of us usually end up standing at the "huge" kitchen counter or eating out of our laps on the couch. And yes, I do know that t.v. trays would have been a good idea. The problem is that we have no where and I do stress no where to put them when they are not in use. So there goes that idea. Bonus though is that some of us have mastered the art of plate balancing! Incredible huh?

:: Every day is different and yet the same. Each night when we go to bed we shift all the stuff from our sleeping spaces to our eating spaces and in the morning we shift it all back again. Yep, we can do it, although it isn't much fun. Do-able, yes! Convenient, uh, NO! Unfortunately, thus far, I haven't figured out any other way to do it.
: I have learned that 7 people really can make one bathroom work. Well we don't shower/bathe in here partly because it is just WAY too small and partly because the mini-tub is housing the cat litter box. So we have to carry all of our showering supplies down to the guest bathrooms here at the KOA. Not horrible, but it is inconvenient. Still, we are making one bathroom work so that is pretty cool to me.

:: "I'm bored" has been on the tip's of the kids tongues lately. I think that they have forgotten about all the stuff I brought with us so that those words would never be uttered. I think it is just that they feel "cooped up". Cabin fever is definitely affecting this crew! The weather has been very unpredictable, and thus limiting our outside activities.

:: On the bright side, we are doing it. It is not impossible and noone is miserable (with the acception of brief moments that can't be helped). If we can do this...we can do anything! He he! There will be memories of this time that will come up in conversation many times in the future. The kids will say "do you remember that time when we lived in the camper...". and though there have been definite moments of discontent and frustration in the last month and a half, there have been many more moments of remarkable patience and love. Moments of giving that might not otherwise have taken place. I am very proud of how my family has pulled together to live together in such close quarters in peace.

:: I am surprised at the lessons I have learned, the resilience of my family, and the stores of patience that Jud and I didn't know we had. Live in a camper? Sure why not! Any thing is possible!